When it all Gets Better
by JustADoll
Summary: So, we dealt with Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Draco, and Ron, but what about Blaise? Spin-off from 'When it all Goes Wrong'. Enjoy!
1. Homecoming

_This has been a long time coming. I loved Blaise in 'When it all Goes Wrong' and just got an urge this evening to give him his own little story, and here it is._

"Well, Molly, as always, that was fantastic." Blaise stretched out in the hard wooden chair and yawned widely as Molly Weasley, beaming maniacally, pulled his plate away and sent it flying through the air into the kitchen sink, where it promptly began cleaning itself.

He stood, nearly hitting his head on the low ceiling of the Weasley house, and followed Molly through to the living room, where Ginny and Harry were sat, lounging together on the sofa, watching their son, James, crawl across the floor. They both looked up and smiled, and Blaise swooped down on James and hoisted him on to his shoulders. James squealed in delight.

"Good to see you, again Blaise." Harry leant across his heavily pregnant wife to shake Blaise's hand.

"Potter. Sperm factory going strong, I see?" Blaise and Harry laughed as Ginny and Molly blushed. "How is everything? How are Draco and Hermione? Haven't seen them in a while."

Harry sighed. "Well you've been away rather a long time. As far as we know, they're doing ok. Still driving one another up the wall, but still making up every time, which is good."

"And how about you Blaise?" Ginny had a coy look in her eye Blaise wasn't sure he liked. "Found yourself a girl yet?"

Blaise cracked his knuckles impressively and kicked back on the couch. "I've got plenty of time."

Harry scoffed. "Hardly! Mate, you're twenty-seven!"

"Hey, just because I wasn't all set and settled by twenty-five. I'm still in my prime, you know." He couldn't be argued with. Blaise still had the same charismatic grace he'd had as a teenager. There was barely a line on his face, and his hair had retained it's jet-black sheen without a fleck of gray in sight.

Harry cleared his throat, very aware he'd just spent the last five seconds eyeing up Zabini. "Still, don't you think you might want this?" He indicated Ginny and his son, who was now banging a toy broomstick against the floor, and looking dangerously close to a tantrum.

Blaise watched until the toddler began to scream and then gave Harry a half-smile. "You know. I think I'll be alright."

Harry grinned back and Ginny swept her son up and carried him out, closely followed by her mother.

"So, you going to tell me where you've been the past few years?" Harry asked quietly, sipping from a cup of tea and peering at Blaise.

Blaise shrugged. "I've been around." He avoided Harry's eye, feeling like he was undergoing an interrogation rather than engaging in friendly conversation.

"You haven't. Nobody's seen you. I've spoken to everyone, and, as far as they're all concerned, you've disappeared off the face of the earth."

"I had some stuff that needed seeing to, alright?"

"What stuff? Come on, Zabini, you're… you, you don't have 'stuff that needed seeing to'." Blaise couldn't help but laugh hollowly.

"True, true." He crossed his legs and leant forwards. "Truth is, I just needed to get away for a while. It's all just a bit couple-y here with you guys, you know. I just went on holiday for a while, is all."

Harry grinned. "Well, whatever you've been up to. You should go and see Hermione and Malfoy. They've missed you."

* * *

"What do you mean, you only just got out of work?! I rang there over fifteen minutes ago and they said you weren't there anymore!" Hermione Malfoy's screeching voice was audible even through the heavy oak front door of the greatly modified Malfoy Manor.

"Ah, the sweet sounds of wedded bliss." Blaise sighed, and struck the knocker twice.

"For Merlin's sake, woman? Can't a man just go out with a few colleagues after a days work without his wife going completely insane?"

Blaise listened as doors slammed upstairs and silence followed. He pushed the door open. The interior looked like the musings of a manic-depressive. The walls were dark, whilst the carpets and curtains were bright. The vases were light and colourful, but the flowers they held looked like something out of a gothic novel. "So… this is what happens when a Gryffindor and a Slytherin decorate." Blaise pondered, delicately tracing a finger along the dark wood dresser that stood beneath the white wood stairs.

He climbed the stairs, sat down on the top step and waited. If what Harry had said was true, the making up would soon begin.

Sure enough, only seconds later, the door handle on his right slowly twisted, and the door opened.

"She still got you on the stubbornness trait, I see." Blaise called, not bothering to look over his shoulder. He lazily got to his feet, and turned to see Draco Malfoy beaming at him.

Malfoy flung an arm around him and clapped him on the back. "It's good to have you back, Blaise. We missed you."

"So I see." Blaise raised an eyebrow, and Draco flicked his eyes away, embarrassed. "I hear the old love boat's not sailing quite as smoothly as it once was."

Draco shrugged. "We're fine. Just coming out of the honey-moon-period, I think."

"You had a five-year-long honey-moon-period?" Blaise's mouth hung open. "Maybe marriage isn't such a bad idea after all."

Draco led him down the corridor, and to a new door. He knocked softly before turning the handle and pushing the door open.

"Hey, Hermione." Blaise peered around Draco's shoulder to see Hermione lying propped up on what was clearly the master bed, hands wrapped around a book.

"Hey Draco." She replied, without taking her eyes off the print in front of her.

"I'm sorry, darling. I should have let you know where I was."

Hermione let out a long sigh. "It's fine. Of course, it's fine. I overreacted." She put the book down and swung her legs over the side of the bed, and finally looked up. "Oh my gosh! Blaise!" She rushed at him and flung her arms around him.

"Yeah, I brought a friend to see you." Draco shuffled awkwardly as his wife kissed Blaise on the cheek.

"It's so good to finally see you again. We've been so worried!"

"Nah!" Blaise exclaimed, carefully wriggling out of Hermione's grasp. "You knew I was fine."

"But still." Draco said, looking happier now as he wrapped an arm around Hermione. "We had no idea where you were, what you were doing."

Blaise smiled broadly. "Like it matters. I'm home now."

* * *

_Oh Blaise, how I've missed you!_

_Please review_

_JustADoll_

_xxx_

* * *


	2. Growing Up

"So?" Hermione leant forward across the table. "Are you going to tell us where you've been? Why you abandoned us all?" She pushed a fire whiskey across to him and peered at him expectantly.

Blaise took is graciously and leaned back in his chair. "To be honest, it's not really worth all this build up. You'd only be disappointed if I told you."

"Potter said you've been 'on holiday'." Draco smirked. "What a load of bollocks. Come on. Where have you really been hiding?"

Blaise laughed dryly. "You want to know so bad, you spoke to Potter about me?" Draco met his amused eyes with a coolly unphased expression.

"Yes." He drawled. "You've been away a long time, Zabini. Potter and I good mates these days. I'm sorry to say, you've been replaced."

Zabini clutched a hand to his chest in mock horror and balanced on two chair legs. "Oh the agony at being replaced in the eyes of the great Draco Malfoy! What ever shall I do with my life now that that wondrous era is over?" He fell back onto all four legs and crossed his arms across his chest. "Seriously though, Dra. I'm back now. Get rid of Potter."

Hermione put a hand demurely to her lips to hide her laughter, and Draco's lip twitched. To Blaise they looked like the sort of couple they were always going to be: repressed yet happy. Both were fighting against who they were just by being together, and yet, somehow, because they were both fighting it, it only made them stronger.

"I will get rid of Potter only if you decide to be honest with me for a change."

Blaise sighed, knowing they would only be disappointed. "Nothing special, just an extended holiday."

"For five years?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"I'm a good traveller." He shrugged. "Had lots of places I wanted to see."

"See it all then?" Draco looked far more ready to accept Blaise's story than his wife. He knew Blaise, knew the happy-go-lucky veneer hid an incredibly restless nature, that sometimes just took over. He remembered when it had done in their fourth year at school, and Blaise had disappeared for nearly two months and then had just come home one day, no explanation offered.

"Pretty much." Blaise stretched. "You'd like Prague, Dra, very much your sort of place. Berlin too, not much like you'd expect."

"So who were you travelling with? Did you meet a girl?" Hermione cut in.

He leant forwards and folded his arms. "I travelled alone. I met lots of girls. None of them special." It didn't take a seer to tell they were disappointed. "Ha! What is with everyone today? You all got domesticated so early, you think there's something wrong with me just cos I'm still single! It's not that unusual, you know. In fact, it's pretty damn normal."

Hermione smiled. "We're sorry, Blaise. It's just, while you were away, we always though you'd met some girl somewhere and we with her."

"We just didn't like thinking of you all alone like that." Finished Draco.

"Mate, come on!" Blaise scoffed. "I've got ages yet!"

Draco served dinner, and, later, as the sun faded and night drew in, Blaise still didn't look ready to leave.

"So, where are you staying?" Hermione finally hinted. "Somewhere close I hope, we know we have to keep an eye on you now. Stop you leaving again."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "That keen to get rid of me and it's not even midnight yet." Ignoring their protests, he carried on. "I haven't really decided on anywhere to stay yet. Going to the Leaky Cauldron tonight and going hunting tomorrow."

"I can help you out with the hunt if you want some company." Draco offered. "I hate to blow my own trumpet, but my taste _is_ impeccable."

As they laughed, Blaise was finally struck with the notion that had been so far absent from he grand homecoming, the notion that he was really back for good.

"So, not going to take off on us again?" Draco asked, only half jokingly, as Blaise swung on his jacket and stepped out the door.

"Hardly. Do you know how difficult it was to drag myself back? Not going to put myself through that again."

"Wow, well, I'm glad you managed it." Draco's eyes, usually so emotionless, were riddled with sincerity.

Blaise saluted as he backed and turned away, and Draco stood and watched as he headed off out of sight.

* * *

"One room please, Tom." Blaise grinned wickedly at the old barman, who gave a toothless grin back.

"Blimey, Mr Zabini, thought you'd gone for good. It's good to have you back."

He showed Blaise up to his room, a small, but sufficiently superior room when compared to the others. "Cheers, Tom."

"Anything I can get you?"

"Nah, that's all for now. Thanks again."

He fell onto the bed, and sighed heavily. What was wrong with everyone? He comes home after all these years, and all they're interested in is his love life? What was up with that?

He knew they were wrong. Nearly everyone he knew of his own age was still single, or at least not married, but being the fifth wheel was never good. Maybe he should just try and find someone, but there was nobody around right now. He'd just got back to England, it wasn't like there was a queue of girls waiting outside.

Blaise slept better than he had slept since he'd left, the night after Draco and Hermione's wedding. It had been cheap of him, but it had felt right.

* * *

House hunting was never going to be a pleasant experience. Having graciously turned down Draco's offer of assistance, knowing full well that, with Draco's help, he could end up with an unwanted, not needed, manor house in the middle of the country, when what he really needed was something small and manageable in the middle of the city.

Blaise had so far survived on money provided for him by his mother, or rather taken without her knowing from Gringotts, but it was time for a change. He needed a job, independence, to finally grow up. The last thing he would buy would be his new home and then that would be it. Hopefully.

Diagon Alley was out of the question. It was a street littered with newly graduated Hogwarts students, and, at this time of year, it was highly like there would be nothing for him there.

Hogsmeade would have been the next obvious choice. Wizarding communities were so scarce these days that the choice was small, but being so close to his old school did not really appeal.

The last option was not really right, but, at the same time, it was likely he'd be welcomed there, and would be usefully positioned should the need for a spy arise. It wasn't the nicest place on earth, but it looked as though Nocturne Alley may just be the ideal place for Blaise Zabini to live.

Finding somewhere at a reasonable price was not difficult. Only two hundred Galleons later, the initial payment was down on a flat was down on flat over a Dark Arts Specialty Shop, which Blaise was glad he was not required to walk through in order to reach his new home.

The flat itself was of the highest quality Nocturne Alley had to offer, consisting of a bedroom, a bathroom, a living room and a kitchen. All the rooms were small and cramped and poorly lit, but Blaise had plans to turn it into a Haven for the good.

Only a charm later, the grey paint had been stripped from the walls, and replaced with a cream coloured wallpaper. What little light there was outside instantly seemed to fill the room. He expanded the bedroom, and gave the walls in there the same treatment.

Already, Nocturne Alley was starting to feel like home.

* * *

_:)_

_Please Review_

_JustADoll_

_xxx_


	3. Trust You

_If I told you I had 12000 words that needed to be written (to an A grade quality) for school, would you forgive me for this horrendously long break I've had? I haven't even made it an extra-specially long chapter, I am sorry. _

* * *

Nocturne Alley was not the most ideal location for him. Having spent most of his youth idolising evil, and living in the shadow of his wannabe-Deatheater friends, Nocturne Alley posed the ultimate temptation. It was how he imagined a sex-addict might feel if they were forced to live in a brothel. The pull of the Dark Arts was harder to ignore then he'd first imagined. Blaise had already found himself eyeing the wares in the Specialty shop downstairs, and had had to force himself upstairs.

His apartment had become exactly as he had hoped; a sanctuary for the good guys. It was rare that he ate alone. More often than not, Draco or Hermione came to visit, or Blaise would go to the Weasley's. Since all her children left home, Molly Weasley had grown to love Blaise's visits, and who was he to deny them to her?

"Molly!" Blaise called out, knocking on the door to The Burrow. "Molly, it's Blaise!"

The door was wrenched open, but it wasn't Molly stood before him. Ginny Weasley's eyes were streaming with tears as she glared at him. "Can I help you?"

He gawped at her. She rolled her eyes and went to shut the door. "Wait - wait a second." Blaise caught the door with his foot. "Are you alright?"

Ginny sniffed, and held the door open. As he passed her, she gestured to the front room. Blaise sat on the squashy sofa, and patted the space beside him.

Ginny began to cry again, and he wrapped an arm around her. "Come on, Gin. What's wrong?" Ginny sobbed, and Blaise rocked her gently.

"Oh, Blaise, how good to see you." Molly bustled in, carrying a tea tray. "Ginny dear, how are you feeling."

"Please, Molly, tell me what's wrong."

Molly sighed sadly and sat in her husband's chair. "Ginny… Ginny lost the baby." Her daughter began to bawl, and hid her face in her hands.

"She had a miscarriage." Molly breathed.

Blaise pulled Ginny in towards him and stroked her hair. "I'm so sorry."

Mollt stood up, and straightened out her skirts. "Blaise dear, would you come and help me make some tea?"

"But you just…"

"Please, Blaise."

She pulled him out to the busy kitchen, where the washing cleaned itself noisily in the sink. "Blaise, Harry's gone."

"Gone… what do you mean, gone?"

Molly breathed heavily and crossed her arms across her chest. "I mean Ginny told him about the miscarriage and walked out."

Little James came running clumsily into the kitchen. He squealed upon seeing Blaise, and Blaise swept him up and threw him into the air before catching him and holding him close.

Blaise's turned back to Molly and heaved a sigh. "Well, that's noble of him."

Molly nodded wearily, and stepped forwards to stoke her grandson's hair. "I don't know which has upset Ginny more, losing her baby or her husband. And Merlin only knows where he's gone."

They stood together, James burbling away to himself, blissfully unaware, and both considered where Harry Potter could have disappeared to, and listened to the mournful cries of his wife. Blaise felt out of touch, as he was sure the Harry Potter he knew would never walk out on his wife after she had lost a child.

Understanding it was for the best, Blaise bid the Weasley women farewell.

He apparated back to bottom of Nocturne Alley and began the slow walk up the cobblestones to the very top where the Specialty Shop stood. As he walked, he considered Ginny Weasley, and the psychology behind her husband's disappearing act. He could think of nothing about her that could drive a man away, particularly when she was so sad and so helpless.

"Potter must just be a nut job." He muttered.

Draco was waiting for him in his apartment. Arms folded as he sat, statue still, upon Blaise's cream leather sofa. Blaise cleared his throat. "Not that I'm not pleased to see you, Dra, but just why are you sat in my apartment when I am not here?" He tried to keep his tone light, but the weight of the evening still seemed evident in his words.

Draco sprang up and grinned. "Hermione and I were just wondering where you were this evening, we hadn't heard from you all day."

Blaise chuckled hollowly, flicked his wand and caught one of the two bottles of Firewhiskey it summoned from the kitchen. "I'm a grown-up now, Draco. If I don't contact you for twenty-four hours, the chances are, I will be ok."

"Need I remind you that the last time I didn't hear from you in twenty-four hours, that one day extended to a week, and then a month, then a year, and the five years."

Blaise shrugged. "And I was ok."

"That's not the point, Zabini," Draco took a swig of his own drink. "That's not the point."

The drank their whiskey in silence until Blaise disposed of the empty bottles by simply waving his wand. "Neat trick." Draco commented.

"You learn all sorts in Ibiza." Blaise smirked.

"Ibiza, eh?" Draco laughed, "Trust you."

Blaise's smile faltered. _Trust you._ It was that mantra that had always followed him whenever he had chosen to do anything impetuous or daring. _Trust you to be so selfish._

"Draco, have you seen Potter at all today?" His tone was serious, and Draco's eyes narrowed.

"No, I haven't. Why do you ask?"

Blaise sighed. "He's gone. Walked out on Ginny."

Draco straightened up, looking confused. "What do you mean? Isn't Ginny pregnant?"

"Not anymore." Blaise said flatly. "She had a miscarriage."

Draco grabbed his arm and apparated them both to his own home. Hermione looked up from a writing desk as they appeared. Blaise had never even taken the time to ask what she was doing with her life now. Whatever it was, it looked important. Small reading glasses were perched on her nose, and she pulled them off as she focussed on the two men who were suddenly in her room.

"Hello, Blaise, we wondered where you'd got to."

Draco flew across the room to his wife's side. He gripped her by the shoulders and Blaise was momentarily terrified as he shook her roughly. "Hermione," Draco's voice was calm, a complete contrast to the brutality of his actions. "Have you seen Harry today?"

Hermione shook her head frantically, her eyes revealing the tiny fear she had of her husband that still remained, left over from their last couple of years at school when the older Slytherins had uncontrollably off the rails.

Draco seemed to recognise Hermione's expression, her quickened breathing, her flushed cheeks, as he breathed out slowly, and let go of her shoulders.

He did not apologise to her, Blaise noticed, instead he just nodded. He hadn't known Draco had such anger issues.

"Why do you need to find Harry? Isn't he with Ginny?" Hermione directed her question to Blaise.

"He's… he's sort of disappeared." Draco murmured, with the obvious intent of not alarming her.

Hermione laughed lightly. "Draco, It's Harry. He vanishes every other week, you know what he's like." She playfully narrowed her eyes at Blaise. "You must have been giving him tips."

"No, Hermione, it's not like that." Draco cut across her. "Hermione, Ginny lost the baby."

The was a moments shocked silence before Hermione finally spoke. "Baby James? How did she lose him? That kid's never let out of their sight."

"Not that baby. The one that was inside her." Blaise explained calmly. "She had a miscarriage."

Hermione sunk back slowly into her chair, absent mindedly running her fingers across her face.

When she spoke, her voice was faint, and tears trickled down her cheeks.

"We have to find Harry."

* * *

_Hmmm I know where I want this to go, but I'm not entirely sure how popular it'll be. Give me your thoughts and I will make more of an effort to update sooner! _

_JustADoll_

_xxx_


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